At this year's BrauBeviale in Nuremberg, KHS (KHS.com) was presented with the World Beverage Innovation Award from British publisher FoodBev Media for its lightweight 1-liter PET milk bottle. The specialist for filling and packaging systems was victorious with this bottle in the category "Best Environmental Sustainability Initiative". The new solution scores in particular thanks to its low weight and the related material savings. The prestigious prize is awarded for innovative designs and products as well as outstanding quality in the international brewing industry.

"We are proud of this award. The award is testimony to our ongoing commitment in the field of innovative and sustainable product systems and solutions," says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Niemeyer, CEO of KHS GmbH. The lightweight 1-liter PET bottle for milk and mixed milk beverages was developed ready for the market and extensively tested at the Bottles & Shapes™ Center at KHS' site in Hamburg. As a handy alternative, the ultra-lightweight PET bottle offers many advantages versus the beverage carton.

As with all packaging developments from the PET experts at KHS, the focus was on an exemplary balance between economy, market acceptance, and product quality for the new milk bottle. Material usage and energy consumption have been reduced considerably. With a thread diameter of 32 millimeters, the lightweight 1-liter PET milk bottle weighs a mere 20 grams. In comparison, PET bottles of the same size commonly found on the market generally tilt the scales at 22 grams. Thanks to material savings of two grams of PET per bottle, up to 140,000 euros per year can be saved based on a production of 50 million bottles.

Maximum product safety and great marketing benefits

The lightweight 1-liter PET bottle for milk and mixed milk beverages can be aseptically filled; it protects the product, reduces production costs, and is fully recyclable. Its FlipBase base reliably compensates the negative pressure created in the bottle during filling of the warm beverage. KHS offers two versions of the bottle with UV light barriers: a transparent bottle that is covered after filling with a protective sleeve on the one hand, and a white bottle with a reliable light guard made of titanium dioxide on the other. At the retail level, the newly developed bottle scores especially with its convincing handling. An intermittent rib structure, for example, ensures the desired easy-to-grip stability.

The World Beverage Innovation Awards have been presented annually by British publisher FoodBev Media since 2003. The publisher presents awards to particularly innovative and high quality products and concepts from the international brewing industry in 26 different categories. These include categories such as design, packaging, sustainability, ingredients, and production processes.